NYN Media's 3rd Annual Nonprofit TechCon

By Lissa Blake

On Tuesday, December 5th, New York Nonprofit Media will host Nonprofit TechCon which will bring together technology, IT and executive leadership from nonprofits across New York to the impact technology, has had, has today and will have on the nonprofit community.

The event will be held at:

The Convene

32 Old Slip

8:00 -8:30 am Networking & Registration

8:30am Welcome and Opening Remarks

8:40am Technology 101: What is basic, cheap or free? A Checklist of Tools

While new technology continues to develop, more tools are available for nonprofits, higher education and other organizations. It’s no secret that smaller organizations generally have fewer resources, smaller staff and therefore less time to dedicate to enhancements than others, but there are incredible tools available at little or no cost to groups like these. This panel will help attendees to compile a basic toolbox of resources that can benefit each organization and discuss these amazing products and services available by groups who understand their needs.

Panelists:

Information Technology Manager, Little Flower Children and Family Services of NY ﻿(moderator)

CEO, CaringCent, LLC

Solutions Architect, Forum One

Executive Director and Head of Product, Give Lively

Social Impact Director, Oracle+NetSuite

9:20am Case Study: JMT

9:50am How to Build a Privacy and Cyber Security Program

For a nonprofit, it would be the worst possible situation to discover that their donor data has been compromised by unknowns (or hackers). The session will talk about what information should be kept private, what are the key threats to that information, how to support good cyber security with good employment practices and policies, how to implement the best security program and what to do if there should be a breach.

Panelists:

Director of Administration, Columbia School of Social Work (moderator)

President, Corporate Power

Manager of Engagement Technology, Participatory Budgeting Project

10:30am Networking/Break

10:50am Using Data-Driven Analytics to Enhance and Improve Targeting Prospects and Measuring Impact

Measuring social impact and nonprofit efficiency has been one of the sector’s greatest challenges. Nonprofits evaluate their success by achieving their mission and on how they raise and spend their money. Nonprofits need to embrace measurement as a data-driven culture and make decisions based on meaningful data. How do you collect, analyze and measure data so that is easy, simpler to explain and will help people actually digest what they see?

Don’t let uncertainty surrounding cash flows negatively impact your organization. Make sure you have an accounting system in place that empowers you to take control and effectively manage operations. Don’t Miss this Session to gain insights on accounting system selection criteria and their prioritization as well as other significant considerations such as reporting capabilities, cloud-based options, and system integrations.

Technology truly has changed everything for nonprofits. New technology can increase productivity at your organization so that your employees can focus on your mission. While these technologies may warrant a new and different approach, they are vital and powerful tools to bringing more traditional nonprofits into the digital age. Hear from leaders in the field as they share success stories on the best ways for organizations to incorporate new technology and effectively communicate in our ever-changing digital world. What are the technology solutions that may have been overlooked in the past?

Panelists:

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University (moderator)

Director of Information Technology Services, DOROT, Inc.

Director of Evaluation, DREAM

Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems Director, New Alternatives for Children

Associate Director of Technology Education & Training, The New York Public Library

12:40pm Networking Luncheon

1:45pm Strategic Use of Information Technology by Nonprofit Organizations

Too many business in all industries have spent money on analytics that end up being unused. As nonprofits, the last thing they can afford is to spend money on something they do not end up using. This is why it is so crucial to have a dedicated IT nad/or MIS professional involved in these decisions and to speak with peers to find out what works and what does not work. Does it make sense to find ways to share back-office services, including IT and MIS services like network and hardware support, help desk, database administration, procurement, and even technology planning? Does it make more sense to outsource?Panelists:

For many people, cloud computing seems like an abstract or challenging concept, but most don’t realize that the new technological norm is much less complex than it may seem. The session will help nonprofits to assess and employ cloud and hosted solutions for their information technology needs. The excess of cloud solutions and the speed with which their functionality is evolving lead nonprofits to engage cloud providers to help them select and implement the best hosted solutions for their needs.

Executive Director of Information Technology, Lutheran Social Services of New York

3:35pm Networking/Break

3:55pm Using Technology to Enhance Your Message: From Websites to Social Media to Mobile

Technology has changed the way we learn and the way we respond to the millions of messages we encounter in a day. For this reason, cross-platform messaging is key to maximizing an organization’s output. This session will cover the way digital media has become vital, and how strategies for successful messaging can vary across different mediums from websites to social media to mobile devices.

Because of budgets and funding it appears that all nonprofits need automated systems, strong financial practices, smart real estate strategies and multiple grant tracking capabilities. This event will bring together top-level Board Members, Executive Directors and Chief Financial Officers from nonprofits across New York to discuss how to streamline operations processes and make smart choices that effect the day to day and year to year of nonprofit institutions.